The Jungle Book

Welcome to first grade! Here is some important information for the 2011-2012 school year. Please keep these papers so you can refer to them as needed throughout the year.

Lunch Accounts:
Our lunchtime is 11:30-12:00. - You are always welcome to come and eat with your child! Remember to stop by the office, sign in and pick up a Visitors Badge. A lunch menu will be sent home at the beginning of each month.

Breakfast- $1.45/student $ 2.00/adult Lunch- $2.35/student $ 3.20/adult Ice cream- $0.65- Ice cream is sold on Fridays; except on early dismissal days.

Your Childs Account: Please deposit money in your childs lunch account as often as necessary to keep it up to date. Some parents prefer to pay by the week or month. Send the money in a sealed envelope or plastic baggie with your childs first and last name and account number written on the front of it so your child receives credit for the payment. Free or Reduced Lunch Accounts: If applying for free or reduced lunch, please remember to fill out the application form and return it as soon as possible. PLEASE NOTE: Unless a letter was received by a parent/guardian over the summer stating his/her child was approved for free/reduced meals for the upcoming school year, then a new application needs to be completed at the beginning each new school year to determine eligibility. Until an application has been approved for free or reduced meals, students will be charged regular meal prices, so it is important to send applications back to school as quickly as possible.

Morning Arrival Procedures:

Arrival Time- Students should arrive NO earlier than 7:45am. There is no supervision for students before this time. The tardy bell rings at 8:05am. Please help your child arrive on time, so that he/she does not miss valuable instruction. All students are encouraged to ride the bus to school to establish independence and responsibility.

Students will be dismissed from the bus by a bus duty team member. They then need to report DIRECTLY to the classroom, unless eating breakfast in the cafeteria.

In the event that your child needs to be brought to school, please drop him or her off at the side entrance (by the parking lot) or the front of the school. We encourage independence at this age, so please allow your child to walk to the classroom on his/her own.

Afternoon Dismissal Procedures

Dismissal Time- We load the buses at 2:30. Pick-ups are dismissed at 2:40. Please note that there is a curbside service this year for regular pick-ups. Students will be walked out to your car if you have a HCES pick up sign in the window. If you are picking up your child but your child is not a usual pick-up, you still need to come inside. You must write a note or call the office if you wish for your child to ride a different bus or change their normal transportation home. Students who seem sure of the afternoon plans at home often forget the details at school, so it extremely important that you send the change of plans in writing. Please do not email me changes that pertain to that day as I may not check email in time!

Attendance
It is important for your child to come to school everyday unless he or she is ill. It is also essential that your child arrive at school on time. It is not too soon to stress the importance of good attendance, including arriving at school on time. At the end of the year, awards are given for outstanding attendance. County policy states that All elementary students, grades K-5, shall not be absent from school, either excused or unexcused for more than twenty (20) days and receive academic credit for the grade in which enrolled. Under certain conditions a waiver may be granted by the division superintendent or his designee. If your child is sick, please call the office no later than 8:30 a.m. The phone number at Henry Clay is 3658120. Consult the teacher about make-up work after your child gets well and returns to school.

CommunicationContact Info:
Communication is essential to a great school year! There are many ways to stay up to date on what our class and your child in particular is doing. Check out our weekly newsletter or the class website (http://beardhces.blogspot.com) for updates on what SOLs we are studying. If you are sending a note to school or lunch money to school, please put it in the page protector in the folder. Notes and money placed in the pockets of the folders are more easily lost and are more likely to be missed when I go through the folders. I will respond to your note as soon as I can. Notes that pertain only to your child will also be placed in the page protector as well.

If you prefer you can also reach me by email (ebeard@hcps.us) or by phone 365-8120. I recommend a note or email over voicemail as our voicemail system sometimes does not always flash to let us know we have a message. I am always available for conferences, just let me know youd like to meet and we will find a time that is convenient.

CommunicationTeacherEase:
This year teachers will stay in touch using the TeacherEase email system. You will receive information about receiving these emails in the first few weeks of school. I try to send out an email on Friday giving you details about the activities that our class did that week. I also occasionally use the email system to send information about important events and reminders. HCES is not using TeacherEase as a grade book, so you do not need to worry about logging in as all the information entered will be emailed to you. If you do not have access to email at home, let me know and I will send a paper copy home. The paper copy will come home on Monday as I usually dont write the TeacherEase update until our week is over.

CommunicationNewsletters
I send a newsletter home most Mondays. The newsletter will cover the SOLs we are focusing on, important dates, and classroom news. Depending on the response to the back to school questionnaires, newsletters may be distributed digitally. I also will be sending home information letters explaining classroom procedures, instructional routines, and grading information.

Take Home Folder and Homework:

This folder should travel back and forth to school everyday. Important information is included in the binder and is essential to a successful school year. Please check each the folder and sign the weekly calendar each night. *Weekly Calendar: Homework A weekly calendar can be found in your childs Take Home Folder. The homework for that night is written next to the date. The homework packets are sent home on Mondays and are due on Fridays. Any papers that are needed to complete the homework will be sent home on Monday. Feel free to adjust the days each assignment is completed to meet your familys schedule. Please return the homework in your childs Take Home Folder on Friday. I will not collect homework before Friday, even if it is completed. Homework is designed to be done independently by your child. *Weekly Calendar: Behavior- On the Weekly Calendar, each day the student will mark the color they are on for the day. If the student had any problems, I will put a short note on the behavior calendar. For details on the behavior plan, see below. Please sign the weekly calendar each night. *Weekly Calendar: Reading- Eventually at home reading and sight word practice will be added to the weekly calendar as well.

Information to Keep at Home:

I suggest you keep a folder at home for important information that you may want to refer to throughout the year. *Jungle Book Please keep this document for reference throughout the school year. *Math Games I will send home math games occasionally as part of your childs homework. Playing math games is a great way to spend time with your child and help him or her develop math skills. It is a good idea to keep the directions to the game and supplies sent for the game in a safe place at home. Playing math games multiple times is a wonderful way to enforce skills. Sometimes the new games will need supplies that have been sent home previously. *Study Guides - Please keep all study guides that are sent home to help your child study.

Report Cards
Hanover County is on the quarterly grading system. Grades will be released four times during the school year. Interims will be released in the middle of each grading period. In first grade, students will be graded with: S (Satisfactory) P (Progressing) N (Needs improvement). Students will receive grades from the classroom teacher in the following areas: reading, spelling, handwriting, math, science, social studies, work habits, and social development The dates are listed below (unless altered by snow days): End of Quarter (Early Release Day) Report Cards 1st quarter report: 2nd quarter report: 3rd quarter report: 4th quarter report: Nov. 4, 2011 Jan. 26, 2012 April 6, 2012 June 15, 2012 Report Card Release Date

Nov. 11, 2011 Feb. 2, 2012 April 20, 2012 June 15, 2012

Interim Reports 1st quarter interim:

Oct. 6, 2011

2nd quarter interim: 3rd quarter interim: 4th quarter interim:

Dec. 7, 2011 March 1, 2012 May 10, 2012

Books to Go:
Reading at home is absolutely the BEST way to help your excel in school! Your child will be bringing home books from school in a plastic Books to Go envelope. We usually begin this the third week of school. Please write the reading that your child does each night on the weekly calendar. Students are graded on the days they read each week. You will find the grading scale on the weekly calendar. I remind students to switch their books to go on Mondays, but students may trade books at any time if they finish reading the books they have. I check the weekly calendar on Monday and give your child a grade for the week. Although the page does not have a place for weekend reading, please feel free to record weekend reading on the sheet.

Poetry Book:
Throughout the year students will be exposed to many poems for their enjoyment and learning purposes. Every Friday students will bring home their poetry book to read and share with family. Please initial the log and have students return the binder every Monday. Some families also initial the individual poems after the students read themit is fun at the end of the year to see who the students read the poems to.

Wednesday Folder:
This folder will be sent home every Wednesday. In it you will find your childs graded papers and other important school information (field trip forms, picture orders, etc.) Please initial the log, review, and remove papers before sending the folder back on Thursday.

Scholastic Book Orders:

Book Club orders will be sent home several times this year. This is a great way to build up literacy skills at home! I encourage you to order your books online because our class receives a free book for each online order you place! To order online: go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Don't have a User Name and Password?" link, then register for your own username and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code: GTJNN. This code ensures that your order is sent to me. You will receive a coupon for FREE BOOK every time you place an order online. You can use this coupon in for future book orders. If you prefer to pay with a check, you can still do that too. Please return the order form and make one check payable to SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUBS (please, no cash!). Your child should receive his/her books within two weeks of the order date. Purchased books earn bonus points for FREE books for our classroom library. Although this is entirely optional, we encourage you to place an order. The children get so excited when the books arrive! And its a great way to develop interested readers!

Look for easy or beginner readers for your child to read independently. Also, there are a variety of advanced books you could order for YOU to read to your child. Picture and poetry books are good. It is important for your child to be exposed to a variety of literature.

Popular Book Series: Hello Reader Books (Levels 1-4) Phonics Readers Clifford, the Big Red Dog Arthur books (Marc Brown) Henry and Mudge Sparky and Eddie Nate the Great Amelia Bedelia Curious George Mysteries Jigsaw Jones Amelia Bedeia Berenstain Bears (usually teaches life lessons)

Poetry: Shel Silverstein Jack Prelutsky Dr. Seuss Other Genres Fairy Tales Fables Tall Tales Joke books/Riddle Step Into Reading Books
Non-Fiction Biographies

Read-Aloud Books: Read-Alouds are books YOU read to your child or books for more advanced readers. These books, on the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grade levels, help with vocabulary development and higher-level thinking skills. Books by the following authors are good choices:
E. B. White Judy Blume Beverly Cleary Ronald Dahl James Marshall Patricia Polacco

Non-Fiction: It is important for children to read non-fiction too. The following are great choices in the areas of science, math and social studies: Hello Math Reader books First Discovery books Magic School Bus Eyewitness books Reference books (dictionary, thesaurus, rhyming words, maps, how-to)

Volunteer Form:
We encourage parents and grandparents to volunteer! There are opportunities to help at school or have a job sent home to complete. Please check with your childs teacher to schedule a time to help. By planning ahead, the teacher will have all materials organized and set aside for your arrival so classroom interruptions are kept to a minimum and all students can stay focused on their work. There are many jobs to do and your help is greatly appreciated!

The Volunteer Form must be completed by all volunteers, including field trip chaperones. This paper is sent home at the beginning of the year and after completion is kept on file. These forms may also be found in the Office. All school personnel wear badges for identification. All parents must stop at the office to sign in and pick up a badge to wear while visiting school. This is an important step in helping Hanover County Schools provide safe and secure environments in all of our schools. Thank you in advance for taking the time to do this.

Classroom Parties and Birthdays

In first grade, we have two parties per school year - one before winter break in December and one at the end of the year in June. Please contact your childs teacher if you would like to help plan these events. For other special dates, a special snack may be arranged. This snack should be brought to school that morning for the teacher to pass out at a convenient time during the day. Because we believe good nutrition is important for a healthy mind, we are asking parents to celebrate birthdays with a healthy snack. This year birthday celebrations will take place at lunch time in the cafeteria. Please send in the snack in the morning or bring the snack to our scheduled lunch time. Some suggested snacks: popcorn veggies & dip frozen yogurt mini cupcakes sugar free popsicles

fruit & dip

Please send napkins and servings in individual portion sizes. This will help make serving much easier and faster too. Please - no favors or balloons. Children with summer birthdays may celebrate their 1/2-yearbirthday. June birthdays can be celebrated in December, July birthdays in January, August birthdays in February (example - July 25th could be celebrated January 25th).

Daily Snack Time

We will have a working snack each morning. This means that your child will be reading or writing while he or she is eating. Please send a healthy snack that can be eaten in that 10 minute time. Keep in mind that students will be working while they eatneat snacks that can be eaten with one hand work best! Students may only bring water as a drinkno soda or juice.

Water Bottles
Your child may bring a water bottle to keep on his or her desk. Please send water bottles that have a sports top that can be pulled or pushed shut. This helps us cut down on those inevitable spills! Students may not have anything but water in their water bottle. No flavored water pleasewe dont want spills to attract insects to our classroom.

Textbooks
A textbook contract will be sent home in the first few weeks of school. Most Tuesday nights your child will bring his or her reading book home to read for homework. Please send the book back on Wednesday.

Class Schedule:
7:45-8:10- Arrival/Morning Work 8:10- 10:15Reading 10:15-10:55- Encore (see schedule below) 11-11:30- Writing 11:30-12:00- Lunch 12:00- 1:10- Math 1:10-1:45- Science or Social Studies 1:50- 2:20- Recess 2:20-2:35- Dismissal

Encore Rotation Schedule:

1st and 4th 6 Week Rotation Mon.- Art Tues.- Library Wed.-P.E. Thurs.-Music Fri.- Writing 2nd and 5th 6 Week Rotation Mon.-Music Tues.- Art Wed.-Writing Thurs.-P.E. Fri.-Library 3rd and 6th 6 Week Rotation Mon.-P.E. Tues.- Music Wed.-Library Thurs.-Art Fri.-Writing

** On Thursdays students have double encore. On that day our encore time is from 10:15-11:30. The additional Thursday encore will be on a 3-week rotation of Library, Guidance, and PBSPositive Behavior Support (this is basically another section of guidance focusing on making good choices and solving small problems).

Behavior:
Our school uses color system to encourage and reward good behavior. Your child will mark his or her behavior daily on the weekly calendar. Please initial each night. GREEN: Each student begins each day on green. Green is good! It means your child did what was expected in school that day. Please do not put pressure on your child to only be on blue or purple each day.

BLUE: If a child shows an extraordinary effort in schoolwork, s positive attitude, is thoughtful and helpful to others, or otherwise shows great behavior that is above and beyond just following rules they will be asked to more their tag up to blue. PURPLE: If the child is asked to move their tag up two times in one day, they will be on purple. YELLOW: Students will move to yellow with their first warning and will receive a consequence. I try to match the consequence to the behavior, so a child may lose a privilege if he or she abuses it, or he or she may lose time from recess. ORANGE: If students receive a second warning, they will move to orange and will receive another consequence. Students will complete a think sheet if they are moved to orange. RED: Students will more to red with a third warning, will receive another consequence, and will have a note or phone call home. The class has a portable behavior chart that will travel with us to specials. The specialists will move the children up or down as needed in specials to provide consistent behavior expectations. Thanks for taking the time to learn about our classroom. I look forward to working with you and getting to know your child this year. Please let me know if you have any questions!